Beavers — good or bad?
- Thread starter cbw
- Start date
j-bird
Moderator
We actually have them around here on rare occasion. I have seen evidence of their harvesting a few times on my place and they damned up the creek on my neighbors place once to the point they had to use a large track hoe and blast it to get the water moving again. Beavers are a lot like river otters....sure people think they look cute or the like...until they are on YOUR land. Then they are not so "cute" anymore and instead can be VERY destructive critters.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
Beavers are a real nuisance. Yeah, Nat Geo makes them look like they are just hard working good wildlife citizens, but wait till they get on your property. They will destroy all of the trees & shrubs along a creek, trees that are too big like Oaks, they will girdle & kill, and they will flood areas destroying all the shrub-car & alder thicket habitat.
If the b@st@rds would cut boxelders and honeylocust, I wouldn't hate them quite as badly, but they seem to have a preference for young, bearing-age pecans planted in the riparian bufferstrip along the creek.
I'd kill every one I could. Agree, they're pretty good eating, smoked & barbecued, but you gotta be careful to avoid getting castor gland secretions on meat.
I'd kill every one I could. Agree, they're pretty good eating, smoked & barbecued, but you gotta be careful to avoid getting castor gland secretions on meat.
I am in the "good" camp.
It's my belief that removing beavers from the landscape has done more to change the ecosystem of North America than anything else. But, what were we to do?
I hope I survive the apocalypse and live long enough to see how Nature repairs itself and how the wildlife rebounds without mankind interfering all the time.
It's my belief that removing beavers from the landscape has done more to change the ecosystem of North America than anything else. But, what were we to do?
I hope I survive the apocalypse and live long enough to see how Nature repairs itself and how the wildlife rebounds without mankind interfering all the time.
Wind Gypsy
5 year old buck +
Was just about to inquire about beavers and this thread popped up. Had seen no sign of them until a few weeks ago on a rare trip into my sanctuary where I saw a pile of mature aspen laying down.. hate to put a ton of intrusion on the area to kill the bastards. How much time does a guy need to spend on ridding the place of them?
Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
Well if you get lucky and it freezes up soon for you they will be locked under the ice typically for most of winter. You can trap them later after deer season with less worry about the intrusions. They are cutting the most trees right now as they are looking to buidl a food cache to get them through winter. They feed on those cut limbs under the ice.
I'm with swat - smoked, it's good dark red meat, and tasty.
Dad caught a few back when I was in high school, and I smoked a couple - made good barbecue, comparable to venison.
I was running short on time once and cooked one in the crockpot... no smoke to cover the castor gland smell... I couldn't brink a forkful to my mouth without gagging. I put a bunch of BBQ sauce on the 'pulled beaver' and took it to a community potluck... folks cleaned it up... probably thinking it was venison BBQ, as that's what I often brought as my contribution.
Dad caught a few back when I was in high school, and I smoked a couple - made good barbecue, comparable to venison.
I was running short on time once and cooked one in the crockpot... no smoke to cover the castor gland smell... I couldn't brink a forkful to my mouth without gagging. I put a bunch of BBQ sauce on the 'pulled beaver' and took it to a community potluck... folks cleaned it up... probably thinking it was venison BBQ, as that's what I often brought as my contribution.
Peeps
5 year old buck +
Find their dam, rip a hole in it during the morning, come back before dusk with a shotgun and comfy chair, blast them as they come to fix their dam. I got 4 doing that and trapped 2 others. Knock on wood I haven’t had anymore come back. They sense the water level change and want to fix it rt away. When it gets dark hang a lantern above your hole in the dam and then can shoot them at night as they don’t mind the light. 12 ga with BB shot works great.
b116757
5 year old buck +
I’m not a fan of beavers they cause a lot of headaches. The new farm I bought has old beaver activity evidence where they have ringed many larger ash trees along the creek banks. I’d be pretty hesitant to plant any trees I cared about very close to the creek on that property except black walnut they do not seem to be at all interested in that tree species. I’ve spent many an evening after dark waiting on beavers to repair their dam with a rifle in close proximity to myself.
